June 16

hey y'all, Hermana barros here!
I don't know where to star, especially since i already began a written letter. I do want to tell you that i wish i had more mail. but i am so happy. The first day was ROUGH! i didn't like it one bit and i wished i could go home, but i thought that i had could not come home. the second day was hard, along with the third. by the fourth day, the days seemed a lot shorter and funner. now it feels like i wake up and go to sleep (in my bed) n about 3 hours. Side note--this keyboard stins, so if there are misspellings, i feel like my time would be better spent writing than editing-pardon all the mistakes. I've decided to bear my testimony of the things i have learned throughout the first week at the MTC.
1. i know that knee-highs are true. Nylons are the epitome of confinement and in an environment where you go from classroom to a meal, to a classroom, to a meal, to a classroom and then one more meal, confinement is the last thing you want. my companion let me have one of her pairs, so i was wondering if someone could send me a whole bunch. they are important for my attention span.
2. i know that companions are important. those of you who read my first letter know that i started out as a solo sister. i now have two companions--hma. Hammar and Hma. Barfoot. Hammar is from Rgby, ID going to Houston South. Barfoot is fom CO going to Argentina. they are sweet and so lovely. We have one little problem though, we make each other laugh way too much. Here at the MTC i find that i can sit for LOOOOng periods of time without feeling it until we get out our himnarios and sing a song. i have a problem when singing hymns--i sing the wrong words/verse on accident. that problem hasn't gotten better in espanol and the sisters hear my every mistake. We laugh uncontrollably, we all end up crynig, the elders just look at us like we are stupid. it is sad because both sisters laugh silently and i laugh like...a phillips=LOUD. I look like the irreverent sister. But it is so good for my soul to get a good bit f laughter in.
3. I know that 19 year old boys arecalled of God and that He helps them become the missionaries that they need to be. I love my district so much. Thet are like my little brothers--I love them! they make me laugh! one, elder Ball, who is also going to Ft. Lauderdale, and i fight on a daily basis, as friends though. i am so grateful for him and that i will get to see him throughout my mission. HIs growth and progression is going to be fun to watch. the elders always have something to say whcih crcks me up. One once wrote backwards so that we could read what he was writing on the chalkboard. He commented that his hand hurt doing that. Hs companion told him to stop then, quite simply. the situation was hilarious, though as i write it it sounds dull. Perhaps after the 10th hour of class, anything is funny. las Hermanas y yo laughed and laughed and nuestro maestro got kind of mad. Well, he is always mad because he is getting married on SAT. Poor guy comes in every day and looks at us and reems into us if we're late. Or he tells us how his day has gone wrong. i think after his wedding, he will be a lot happier--i hope. But, you all know how engagements are--HARD!
4.I know that i have been called of GOd. I have never known something so much in all of my life. I know this church is true. i knwo that Jose smith vio una columna de luz y dos personajes cuyo fulgor y gloria no admiten descripcion. Yo se que dios nos ama y nuestros sus hijos. Yo se que jesucristo es mi salvidor y el salvidor de todo el mundo. Yo se la iglesia de jseucristo es verdadero y nuestro un profeta del mundo y su recibe reveacion para nosotros. ( that was all from the heart--no copying!)
5. i love you and i know that la familia fue establecio a dios for the happiness of his children. I am grateful for yall and for your patince ni getting me here. i know i am supposed to be here and i am so happy!
6--i also know that i need to switch my lads and i am running out of time. gotta go. love ya.

i'll write more in my letter.
hma barros